Chloe

Brody picks at the bark between us, yet he remains focused on me. "To be honest, I'm happy to help you with your goal. I'm going where I can help whoever I can; like I said before, I'm going to do what I can for people and take the company I can get, even if it's not long term."

I'm not sure if I can decide if he's planning to stick with me after we reach sector seven or not. Would he offer to tag along when her realises I'm passing through after I've got what I'm coming for? Should I even be concerned by that? I was trying to get rid of him not too long ago.

Damn it, this is what I didn't want. There's so much confusion.

"I'm going to scout the area; we may need your trap expertise for when night falls. If nothing's in the area, then we may eat, relax, and sleep here for the time being to strategies for when we reach sector seven."

After a nod, my feet carry me away from the water and the scene altogether. Scouting is the best thing for me when I get like this, it clears my head, stretches my limbs, and allows me the time to warm up before anything happens or if there's something lurking nearby. Right now, it's good for breathing space.

By the time I get back, the sun is setting, and I'm pleased with the notion of not needing to worry about any infected coming our way. Any nearby animals are tucking themselves into bed for the night, and the sunset makes everything more beautiful.

When my feet stop at the log, my eyes finally lift to look at the water and a part of me wishes I didn't while the natural woman instinct is holding my gaze there. Spikey brown hair from the combination of water and fingers dragging through it, and a strong tanned body greets me. Beads of liquid trail down his defined chest, one trickling over the ridges of muscle as the other follows the creases of his abdominals and back into the water.

Brody's eyes are shut, unaware of my arrival. Or was he?

Gritting my teeth, I clear my throat and turn my back to him. A small splash signals the noise startled him, and that makes me more curious.

"You're back? Honestly, I thought you ditched me, it's been a handful of hours," he greets, voice unsure.

"Yes," I start as I set my weapons and satchel down by the log. "Scouting clears my mind, and I wanted to make sure we weren't going to be disturbed by an infected in the middle of the night."

"Most of them are stupid, I doubt they would come through what looks like a closed off hedge, the rest won't sniff us—at least me out because I'm about to get clean."

"Were you waiting for me?" I nearly bite out but keep the doubt under control.

"If you're asking me if I purposely waited for you to come back so I can show off my body and try to sleep with you, then no." The patter of water signals he's lifting an arm or hand from the water to do something before finishing, "I waited for you, then when I thought you weren't coming back, I decided to have a bath. Either way, I was trying to be decent."

Either way, I saw a majority of your body.

"Can you get out; I need to have one too."

"I just got in," he whines. "You can get in or wait a few more minutes."

I fold my arms. "I want a bath now."

An audible sigh comes from Brody, and it softens my stubbornness for a friction.

"Look darling, you can either wait out there for me, or you can come in; I promise I'm not going to look. We may be in a ruined world, but privacy and consent are still a thing in my book. The choice is yours, and there is enough room for the two of us."

Hearing the water shift, my attention slowly makes its way over my shoulder to inspect what's going on. His back faces me, and he subtly runs his fingers through his hair and over his arms. Perhaps he's listening for me to get in, so he knows whether or not to turn around.

"If you're going to take your time, can you at least let me know when you're in, so I don't catch you by accident?" He stops moving for a moment before murmuring bashfully, "I want to get clean."

Letting out a tense breath, my fingers work my top over my head and drop it on the log where Brody's clothes lie. All of them. Next is my bottoms, which were a struggle but came off, nonetheless. Staring down at myself, embarrassment fills me. I'm in my underwear with a man not that far from me, never did I think a day like this would ever come.

Slipping them off and chucking them on the pile, my arms instinctively cover my private areas. Taking a deep breath, my feet carry me to the edge of the water before walking in. It's warm against my skin, most likely due to baking in the sun all day, and it's fast to soothe my aching muscles.

Glancing over to Brody, I call, "I'm in."

He sighs in relief, and freely scrubs his body: arms, face, neck, back, and what looks like his front. Tearing my sight away, busing myself with my own cleanliness with a mental curse for staring. Sinking below the surface, I roughly run my fingers through the tangles, pleased when they come out after a few tugs. With the last of my breath, I scrub, watching as the loose auburn locks float effortlessly in the process. Resurfacing with a small gasp, my back is the next part to work—

A small hiss startles me until I see Brody hunched over, shoulders moving.

"What happened?"

He shakes his head, still not facing me. "I'm fine, just scraped the back of my legs on the tree, it's nothing."

Giving him an 'OK' for a response, the idea of cleaning is cancelled when the water shifts.

"Sorry, quick question, how far up is the water on you, and does it cover?"

Glancing down, I see that it in fact does, and it stops below his shoulder blades now that he's in the deepest end of the water, which is roughly where his pectorals are.

"It does, why?"

"I just want to talk face to face, it's odd for me to not do so, but if it puts you off it's fine."

Biting my lip in consideration, I accept his request, and the way his shoulders deflate signals he's happy. He turns around and remains where he is, and I'm grateful, his eyes don't stray when he asks me what I saw on my scout, and he made sure the better bits of himself were submerged too. After replying to my thoughts on it, we settle in a peaceful silence once more.

"Hey, look at this," Brody pipes, catching my attention once again.

And just like last time, he's made another discovery. In the space between us, there's a small blob of light hovering a few inches from the water.

"It's pretty," I whisper, edging closer to it. Brody copies me, and before we know it, we're directly in front of each other completely mesmerised while making sure to allow the little insect some room to move around. "Have you ever seen one before?"

He shakes his head, water droplets flinging from the ends. "Once, never this close though. How about you?"

My head shakes this time. "Never."

It flies off, only to divert our attention toward the bank where many appear from the grass and bushes littering the area. A light giggle passes my lips as they dance around, a few of them ever come to hover over the water. Discovering this place made it the most beautiful spot I'd ever seen, but this makes it so much better.

Warmth brushes against my arm, and my eyes detect Brody standing beside me with a tender smile on his face. We obviously drifted closer to one another without realising, but there isn't a problem with it. When he turns those brown eyes of his onto me, a faint flush coats his cheeks, and he gives me a playful nudge.

"Who knows, maybe we will find more places like this on the way," he wonders aloud.

"We can only hope."

Once this is over, we will be concocting plans for district seven, and the possible outcome with be me parting ways since the agreement was to reach the sector, and I'll be alone once more to finish my mission. However, we my set plans in motion, but that doesn't mean obstacles won't try to change the course of said plans.

I don't want the distance to be long for I have a goal to complete, although the thought of coming across more places like this would be great. This world has been full of crap, and the little things, or times like this is what makes a difference. It heals without physically doing anything, and as strange as it is to admit, I wouldn't have found things like this if it weren't for Brody.

"What's your name?" he questions softly.

Inspecting the fireflies floating around, casting the sweet scenery in a gentle hue, I murmur, "Chloe."